


A Simple Message

by Therm (Mister_Spock)



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 12:15:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22850014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mister_Spock/pseuds/Therm
Summary: The Governor sends the prison group a message.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	A Simple Message

**Author's Note:**

> Violent, nasty Governor type stuff.

It was a message.

Simple.

Things had been peaceful.

The folk from Woodbury were settling in. They'd planted crops in the fields.

They'd collected everything they could from Woodbury. All the food supplies from the store, any spare ammo and guns they had.

And then they went back for the home comforts. Blankets, clothes, everything they could find.

The cells became more liveable.

The prison became more like home.

And it was nice. It was community.

It was everything they'd wanted when they made it there.

They ate together, larger groups were able to go on runs, and they left more people back to protect the others.

And at nights they'd share stories and laugh. Sometimes there'd be singing too.

So maybe that was why it happened.

But Rick knew that it could have been worse. It was bad enough, but it _could_ have been worse.

Because when it happened, Daryl had been out with Carl.

He'd been taking him for lessons with the crossbow. Into the woods in the mornings to practice his aim and Carl had already got a couple of squirrels himself. And so Daryl was going to try and track something a bit bigger. Maybe a deer.

He hadn't shown Carl tracking yet. He's shown Rick that.

Told Carl that he'd done it that way so he was spreading some knowledge between more of them, but in truth, it would be Rick who'd have to teach Carl how to track. Something Hershel and Daryl had decided they needed to do.

If it hadn't been for Carl being out with Daryl that morning, then Rick probably wouldn't have realised until it was too late. Because as he stepped outside into the cool fresh air, Carl's yell cut across the peace.

And he saw him at the prison gates. Grappling furiously with something on the gate.

And as soon as that registered, then the herd heading towards Carl and the prison gates heading towards him Rick didn't even think.

It didn't take long for him to realise what was happening down there.

It was Daryl at the gate that Carl was struggling with, he just couldn't understand what the pair were up too. Not until he got closer and realised that Daryl was attached to the gate.

And there was blood.

He didn't really know whether Daryl was alive or not.

But Carl was trying to prise him off the fence and Rick realised quickly that it was barbed wire wrapping around Daryl's arms and wrists. And Carl's hands were bloody from trying to help.

"I'll get Daryl, keep the walkers at bay, Carl," Rick yelled, pulling gloves from his back pocket and ripping away at the barbed wire. He wanted to be more careful but there wasn't time. Not with the twisted mess that had been made here.

He barely registered Michonne passing by. "Rick?"

He dared a glance at the walkers. She'd have to get up close to take them out and they needed to get Daryl inside. "Help me!" he called and she didn't hesitate, starting on Daryl's other arm.

And Rick didn't dare look back at the walkers. Knowing they were closing in and that they had to free Daryl before they got to him, otherwise, they'd have to watch them tear him apart and so his efforts were desperate.

A horn blared and Carl was swinging the door wide open, as Glenn drove a car out through the open gate, swinging it round into the walkers and scrambling across to the passengers side to get out away from them, hoping to slow the walkers down.

"Come on, come on," Glenn said, pulling Carl back with him. They needed to get inside now.

"When we get behind the gates," Michonne said, words come harsh with the exertion of holding Daryl up now his body started to sag as they untied him from the wire, " we need to start killing some of this herd. There's too many. They'll break the fence down and we'll be overrun,"

"Glenn, grab hold of him," Rick called out, also feeling like Daryl was about to drop to the ground any second.

Glenn raced round to the pair as Carl kept covering them from the open gate. Walkers were starting to clamber around the car now. They didn't have much time.

"Shit!" Glenn exclaimed, "His legs, it's round his ankles."

"We'll never get it off in time," Michonne said.

Tyresse, Maggie and Sasha came and joined them, the women both joined Carl in shooting any walkers straying close but the amount rounding the car was becoming greater and they knew they wouldn't hold them off much longer.

"Ain't got time for this," Tyresse said, squeezing between Glenn and Michonne's legs. He yanked the boots off of Daryl and pulled his feet from the barbed wire. Chunks of skin were left behind but Daryl was free and Rick and Tyresse kept hold of Daryl and carried him inside the safety of the fence.

"He's clear," Rick yelled and the others immediately fell back inside of the gates and locked them.

Michonne and the others worked on keeping the walkers at the fence away.

Rick and Tyresse carried Daryl up to the prison, needed Hershel.

"We can't take him in there with all those people, it'll scare the hell outta them," Tyresse observed.

Rick nodded "D Block. We cleared it out for prisoners that were here before. We'll take him there."

Rick glanced around, he needed to get Hershel over as soon as possible. He spotted Beth exiting the prison. She spotted them and started to come towards them. "Beth, get your Dad, bring him round to D block. Use the yard entrance, okay? Get Carol too. But make sure everyone stays calm, okay? They don't need to know about Daryl right now."

She nodded racing off to do as instructed.

* * *

Her hands trembled as she washed the blood away.

She had been working with Hershel on Daryl the second he'd been put on the bed in the empty cell. Her back ached from bending over him, her knees sore and stiff from where she knelt on the hard concrete floor.

There was just a few simple stitches left to do before Daryl was fixed up as much as they could possibly do and Maggie had told the pair to rest while she tended to him. She knew as well as they did that if Daryl took a turn for the worse, they'd need the pair of them back working on his again.

Carol lent against the edge of the door frame, neither in nor out of the room. She couldn't stand to leave him right now.

She'd only seen him hurt once before, back at Hershel's farm and it was more a case of looking worse than it was. Once Daryl had been cleaned and stitched up, he'd looked fine. Took a couple of days resting and healing but he was okay. This was different.

This time they'd done all they could and there was no saying if he'd make it or not.

Rick and Tyresse had no chance to check Daryl before Hershel got to him, so none of them knew how badly he was hurt. It wasn't until Hershel started to peel back Daryl's shirt that they saw the extent of what had been done to him.

And with it, Rick had driven away everyone but Carol and Hershel to work on him.

Beth came up beside Carol, worry clear on her youthful features. "You should get some rest. He might need you later," she said, repeating the same sentiment her Dad had shared with her as he bunked down in the cell next to Daryl moments ago.

"I don't want him to be alone," Carol said, not willing to move.

"I'll stay with him," Maggie said, not stopping working to look round to Carol.

And Beth gave her a tight smile, nodded. "Let me know if anything happens, okay?" Carol pleaded.

"Of course," Beth assured her. Carol disappeared into a different empty cell as she grabbed gauze and bandages and knelt down beside her sister and started to wrap some of the wounds.

Maggie's mouth was drawn in a tight line of worry and dread.

Nothing this bad had happened to the group in a long time, not since The Governor had fled Woodbury.

This was a deliberate attack. A message.

And it had to be from The Governor. Who else would target the prison?

But what scared her was the brutality. Because this was just a warning. This was to let them know he'd come after them and he wouldn't stop until they were all dead.

They'd learnt through Daryl what he'd done to Merle.

They'd learnt through Rick what he'd done to Andrea. And those were people he'd known, who he had ties to, bonds with. What was he going to do to the people he really hated?

"I can finish that," Beth offered, noticing Maggie had stopped.

She looked down at her half-finished work, shook her head. "I got it."

* * *

The people in C Block were getting suspicious.

Most of the group were in D block and every time one of them came back in the regular cell block, it was just to grab something and they were soon off again.

Glenn whispered to Karen and Sasha to try and keep people calm and he'd go and speak to Rick, ask him what they should tell people because something had to be said.

Glenn made his way outside, went through the yard to enter D block that way.

He passed by Rick talking to Carl. The youngster had his head bowed, hat obscuring his features as he spoke. As he passed, Glenn heard Carl mutter something about tying him up and making him watch, and he saw Carl absently rubbing his wrists, noticed a little patch of red raw skin there and he saw Rick clench his jaw in anger at what his son had endured.

Although it was Rick he wanted to speak too, he knew now wasn't the time and headed inside D block. Glenn sought out Maggie first of all, who was in the same cell as Daryl. Beth sat beside her sister, both of them on the floor, leaning against the wall opposite Daryl.

Glenn pulled Maggie into an embrace and then he pulled Beth in too with his other arm, seeing the young girls fear written plainly on her face.

They held one another for a few minutes before they felt comfortable enough to release one another.

Glenn sat on the other side of Maggie and looked over to the cot where Daryl's lay. "How is he?"

"Dad says he's not critical. Nothing life-threatening. But he's hurting." She lowered her voice more when she spoke again. "I don't think we'll have enough painkillers for him and we can't risk going on a run after this. Nothings that serious it can kill him, but infection..."

"Maggie, stop," Glenn thought about it for a moment before saying anything. "There must be plenty we can do to make him comfortable. So we'll do whatever we have to do."

He heard Beth sniffle and swipe at her eyes, and Maggie pulled her youngster sister closer too her.

They sat together in silence until the appearance of others at the cell door broke them from their own thoughts. Rick and Carl stood there, Rick's look was a mixture of anger and despair while Carl wore a mask.

"We can give you some time alone with him if you want," Maggie suggested.

Carl shook his head. "I just wanted to see him for myself."

Beth sat forward to catch Carl's attention. "He'll be okay," she said, an assurance in her voice.

"You don't know that," Carl replied.

"He's tough. Like Daddy," Beth said, looking to Maggie for her reassurance. her sister smiled back.

Carl shook his head and left the room but Rick didn't follow, his eyes not having left Daryl since he came in.

"We don't we get some bits from C Block. Seems like we're going to need some supplies over here," Glenn suggested, making sure he included both Maggie and Beth. Both nodded and all three got to their feet.

Before passing Rick, Maggie put her hand on Rick's arm. "Stay with him until I get back? I promised Carol I wouldn't leave him alone. If you're worried about anything, my Dad's in the next cell. Just yell."

Rick nodded stepping into the cell as the others left.

Rick could hear the others talking quietly by the cell block's entrance but he didn't concentrate on them. Instead, he went and crouched down beside the bed Daryl was laying on.

He looked hot, a layer of sweat covering his skin. He lay a hand against Daryl's forehead, moved it to his cheek and felt the warmth of his skin.

They couldn't afford Daryl to get an infection and he hoped this was just some sort of shock from the injuries he'd suffered.

His mind raced at what Carl had told him.

How The Governor had grabbed Carl after they'd been distracted by a small group of walkers and forced Daryl to throw down his weapons unless he wanted to be responsible for Carl's death. So of course, Daryl had done as he was told and The Governor's men had emerged from somewhere.

Carl hadn't gone into details about what had happened, just that they had tied him up and tied up Daryl and made him watch as they hurt Daryl.

Rick had tried to press on that topic but Carl clammed up and so he let it drop.

He realised his hand still lingered against Daryl and moved his touch from the injured man. He stood up, knees protesting at having been kept that way for so long and he moved to the end of the bed, sitting on the bed by Daryl's legs while he waited for Maggie to return.

-

Carl listened to the adults as they talked about Daryl and his chances of surviving.

But it was only Carl who had seen each wound inflicted on Daryl. Watched as Daryl had defiantly refused to make a sound of pain. And it'd cost him. Things just got more and more violent.

And when Daryl did eventually let a pained groan escape his lips he held his head down as though he were ashamed.

The Governor had held his head up, made him look at Carl. Let him see the weakness of the men who were supposed to be protecting him. Daryl's eyes were moist, unshed tears from his pain and shame within them.

Carl didn't see any weakness in Daryl. He saw unbelievable strength and he wanted to tell him that but he didn't dare to speak out for fear it would make the Governor punish Daryl more.

He'd watched Daryl suffering until his body could tale no more and he'd passed out in pain. And The Governor had nodded at his men, because it wasn't over with yet. They dragged Daryl through the woods back to the prison and then a group of the men left. He hadn't known it at the time, but they were drawing the walkers to them. The men left pulled on gloves and started to bind the barbed wire around Daryl's legs and arms. The Governor held Carl back as they took Daryl down to the prison gates and started to wrap the wire around the fence.

Carl had been certain that a shot would have fired out from the watchtower but nobody was there. No one was watching out. The Governor let Carl go as a car pulled up. Unbound his hands and shoved the boy forward as he got into the car without looking back.

Carl could hear the walkers even before he could see them and he started to desperately pull against the barded wire and yelling for help.

"Carl?"

Carl looked up to Michonne who had a concerned look on her face. He was picking at one of the fresh scabs from the barbed wire, made it bleed.

"What?" he asked, defensively.

"Someone needs to stay with Daryl while we sort out the others in C Block and figure out what to do if The Governor attacks. Can you..."

"No! If someone had been in the guard tower when they bought him back you could have got the Governor. I'm going on watch and if he comes back, I'll kill him myself."

"Carl!" Carol called out after him but he just left without a look back.

Rick turned up just as Carl headed out. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"He's just upset about Daryl," Michonne said. Noticing Rick's slightly distant look she questioned, "How is he?"

Rick shook his head. "Hershel's checking him over. He was hot, I was worried about a fever."

"Could be shock," Maggie assured him.

"Yeah, he said that too."

"Rick, we need to deal with the people in C Block. No one knows what's happening but they know something is wrong." Glenn said.

"I don't know what to tell them."

"Maybe we need to find a safe place. Send the more vulnerable people out of here." Michonne suggested.

"That's a lot of people to move." Carol replied.

"If The Governor's watching he could attack them. They're better off here than in a bus."

"Really? He got in easily last time. The people at Woodbury, Judith, Hershel, Daryl, they'll all be sitting targets for him."

"If we send some people with them who could take care of themselves and the others with them, at least they'd be protected." Glenn tried.

"Okay, we need to vote on this. I said I'm not making decisions any more, and I meant it. So, who votes for sending the weakened out of the prison?"

Rick looked on as Glenn, Maggie, Michonne raised their hands. Carol looked torn. The idea of splitting the group up scared her. "Okay," Carol agreed. "But I want to stay with Hershel and Judith."

Rick nodded. "Okay, We need to see Hershel, Carl, Tyresse, Sasha and Karen. See what they think. And then, if they agree with the majority, we need to decide who's going and who's staying."

* * *

Hershel had Daryl on his side, checking the wounds on his back for signs of infection when the hunter rolled over.

His blue eyes met Hershel's, a panicked look to them as he tried to process where he was and what was happening. "Daryl?" Hershel asked.

Daryl didn't keep his gaze on Hershel, as his eyes darted around the room. But the familiarity of the prison seemed lost on Daryl as his breathing only increased, his distress clear.

"Rick?" Hershel called out and seconds later Rick entered the cell. Seeing Daryl awake and struggling, Rick came over to the other man.

"What can I do?" he asked Hershel.

"Try and get through to him, he's not seeing me."

"Daryl? It's Rick," the former officer told him clearly, his voice calm as he spoke. He grabbed hold of one of Daryl's arms to stop it flailing around, tried to anchor him to reality. "Hey, c'mon," he encouraged, but it seemed as though Daryl's panic wouldn't settle.

"Carl?" Daryl gasped out between gasping breaths.

"He's here, he's okay," Rick reassured him.

But Daryl kept looking for him, searching the room.

"Get him here now," Hershel demanded, thinking it might be the only way to calm the man down.

Hershel noticed that Daryl's thrashing around had irritated some of his wounds and blood seeped from beneath the bandages as he struggled to keep Daryl calm. "Maggie?" Hershel called out.

In seconds, Maggie was there. "Help me hold him down, he's just hurting himself." Hershel said. Maggie called out for Glenn and the three of them attempted to hold Daryl still, but he just struggled the more they hold on.

"Through here," they heard Rick call as he rushed Carl into the room.

Hershel motioned for the others to let go of Daryl as the boy came into view.

He was out of breath, much like Daryl after his struggle. And his blue eyes met Daryl's.

Carl was taken back to The Governor forcing Daryl to look at him, seemed Daryl was too as his eyes dropped.

"Can I... talk to him alone?" Carl asked hesitantly.

Rick nodded and the others quickly shuffled out. Carl heard the door to the cell block close and he realised they must have all gone right outside the block. Carl was grateful and he sat in Hershel's chair.

"You're okay?" Daryl whispered, his voice still sounding breathless.

"I'm okay. Thanks to you," Carl said.

Daryl looked away again, shook his head. He was shivering with the cold, his breath still coming in harsh gasps. He didn't sound right. Didn't feel right.

Carl knew it too. "Daryl? You're bleeding," he said, surprised by it. He noticed Daryl was shaking and he grabbed at the blankets that had been lowered while Hershel worked on him. He pulled them up around Daryl's shoulders, and went to get Hershel to come back in, but Daryl reached out and grabbed his wrist. His grip was tight.

His was all but panting now, small desperate gasps for breath and it just didn't seem to be helping.

"Hershel?" Carl called, hoping the man could hear him as he couldn't free his arm from Daryl's vice-like grip. It seemed that Hershel and Rick hadn't left with the others, they must have hung back as they were both quickly back in the cell.

Rick went to try and free Carl's arm but Carl quickly told him he was fine.

Hershel looked over Daryl quickly. He'd spent enough time with him to know that Daryl had no serious chest injuries. "It's anxiety, some type of panic attack." he quickly reassured them.

"He'll be okay?" Rick asked.

"He just needs to calm down. He was panicked when he woke, it's just escalated out of his control. It'll pass."

"He looks like he can't breath properly," Carl acknowledged, his hand numb in Daryl's grip.

Hershel nodded. "If he's not getting enough oxygen, he'll pass out. But he'll breathe just fine then. It's his mind that's doing this to him. He's hurting and had no idea what was happening, and then his fear for Carl was the tip of the iceberg."

Despite their efforts to give Daryl some space and reassure him to try and calm him down, the hunter passed out. They all breathed easy once Daryl's own breathing went back to something calmer and more regular.

Rick sat with his back against the wall and rested his elbows on his raised knees, cradled his head in his hands. He gathered himself before he spoke. "Carl, Hershel, we were talking before. About some of the people who are vulnerable leaving the prison. Michonne and I need to stay back so that the Governor knows we're here, but I want Judith and any of the people who can't defend themselves to go. Some of the others need to go too, to protect them in case anything happens. Carol, Michonne, Maggie and Glenn are already in agreement with this idea, in fact, it was Michonne's. So, I need to see what everyone else wants to do."

Carl and Hershel looked at one another, and Rick saw the anger in Carl's look already. "You want to split us up."

"No." Rick shook his head, emphasising the point. "When Michonne suggested it, I thought it was crazy. I thought that most people can still hold a gun, still fight. But she's right. People can hold a gun, they can fire it, but they can't become a fighter. Judith is dependent on us to protect her. Make the right decisions for her."

"You want me to go with her, don't you? Because you think I need protecting." Carl asked, furiously.

Rick shook his head. "No, Carol wants to go. She'll take care of Judith, I know she will. You need to take care of Daryl."

"Daryl can take care of himself..." Carl started as his eyes drifted down to the unconscious man.

"Not right now he can't. And if he's here with us, he'll try and help if The Governor comes for us and he'll get himself killed." Rick sighed, rubbed a hand across his face. "You don't have to decide right now. Hershel, I'd want you to go too."

Hershel nodded as Rick left the room.

* * *

Daryl hadn't roused again for the rest of the day.

Hershel made sure someone was always with him, but more often than not, it was Hershel himself.

Daryl had barely had sufficient healing time so he was pleased that he was getting the rest he needed. Although it barely stopped the others from coming by and casting worried gazes at the hunter.

It was agreed by the majority that the weaker people should be moved from the prison. Seven people from Woodbury offered to stay and help and they were the more capable. The others ranged from too young, too old or too frail.

When Rick checked the progress of the people as they loaded supplies and people's possessions into the bus, he quickly realised that the bus would be crowded if they all went in there.

Carol had bought her own things out along with Daryl's and Rick took her to one side before she loaded it up.

"I've been thinking," he started making sure no one was too close to hear. "With Daryl as he is, he's going to be better off out of that bus. Those people haven't seen him and he's still hurting. Why don't you take one of the cars and you, Carl, Hershel and Judith can ride with Daryl."

"There's one problem with that though," Carol said.

"Oh?"

"I think you should talk to Hershel."

Rick's brow furrowed and he worried that Daryl had taken a turn for the worse. But then, carol hadn't seemed concerned and she had his things packed up. He went back to D Block and found Hershel in the chair beside Daryl's cot still. "Everything okay?" Rick asked, his eyes quickly looking over Daryl and realising that he still looked about the same as last time he'd seen him.

"I'm not leaving the prison," Hershel said.

"What?"

"I'm staying," Hershel said.

"What about Daryl?"

"Carol can take good care of him. She did a fine job with me and you'd just cut my leg off. Daryl's not that bad. Besides, if there's going to be a fight here, there's no way I'm leaving you all without anyone to tend to you. Someone could just as easily get hurt here."

"Hershel, I really..."

"There's no way I'm leaving my girls here while I go off somewhere safe, Rick. Not for anything."

"I have to stay," Rick established again.

Hershel nodded. "Judith will be taken care of. Carl can fend for himself."

Rick considered it before nodding. He couldn't ask the man to leave his own children to go with his own. if circumstances were different, he'd be leaving with Carl and Judith, but he had to make sure the Governor had no desire to go after the bus.

Tyresse appeared at the cell door just then. "Carol sent me. I'm supposed to help you get Daryl to the car," he said, speaking mostly to Rick.

Rick nodded. "Any supplies here we need to take?" he asked Hershel.

"No, Carol has everything she'll need already packed up. Where's the car?"

"Glenn's just moving it. As soon as it's in place he'll give us a shout. We won't have to move him very far."

Between them, Rick and Tyresse moved Daryl to the car, laying him down in the back seat. Hershel did a quick check to make sure he was okay after the move before throwing a blanket over the man and closing the door. Carol loaded the few bits they had in the boot as Carl came over to wait by them. He glanced in the back to Daryl before he stood with Carol.

Rick came out along with Beth. She carried a bag of Judith's essentials while Rick carried his daughter. Carol climbed into the driver's seat and Carl followed, sitting in the front passenger's seat.

Rick placed a kiss on Judith's head before passing her to Carl. "I know you'll look after her," Rick said.

"If you get into trouble, there's a couple of flares in the boot. If we see them, we'll come and find you, okay? Carol, you travel North, stick to the smaller roads to avoid attention and roadblocks. try and find a safe place to let everyone rest for the night. If it seems safe enough, stay put. After three nights, if nothing happened or if it has, we'll let off the flares. If we don't let them off, move on. Keep going and don't come back."

Carol and Carl both nodded in understanding. And with nothing else left to stay, the group said there goodbyes.

Tyresse, Karen and Sasha decided to go with the people from Woodbury as they knew them better than anyone else in the group.

Rick watched the two vehicles as they drove out of the prison and slowly out of sight.

And he couldn't help but think he'd said goodbye to his children forever.

* * *

Hershel had taken Carol aside before she left and told her he'd given Daryl something to keep him sleeping while they travelled.

He knew they'd be nervous and between a reluctant Carl and Judith being taken away, nerves would be frayed. The last thing they'd need would be Daryl waking up and panicking about where he was and what was happening.

Carol paid little attention to Daryl because of this. Carl kept glancing back at him every now and then, making sure he was comfortable. And Judith was snuggled soundly in her brother's arms.

Carol checked quickly that the bus was following behind her okay and continued ahead at a reasonable pace.

"Are you going to be okay driving?" Carl asked her.

"I love driving. I've missed it. Since this whole thing started I don't think I've been behind the wheel once. It's refreshing."

"Except we're running."

"We're not running. We're protecting. When we were at the farm, I couldn't protect my daughter and I couldn't protect myself. At that cost me Sophia's life. It almost cost Daryl his looking for her. So anything I can do to help protect him when he can't do it himself... I have to do it. I owe it to him."

Carl was quiet as he shifted his baby sister around in his arms. "When you were missing, he asked what I wanted to call her," Carl said, still looking down to Judith. "I thought about Sophia. I always wanted Mom to name her Sophia if she had a girl. But then... there was Mom and Andrea and you. I didn't know how I could pick. It'd just make everyone sad if I picked one of those names."

"You're very sweet, you know that?" Carol said, smiling briefly at the boy.

Carl looked up at her, the hat-making him have to tilt his head so he could see her. She saw him wrinkle his nose at the compliment and he frowned. "Who need to be sweet to survive?"

"No one needs to be sweet, but there's still room for it. Look at Beth. She's as sweet as anything. Her Daddy too. In fact, I think that the whole family got an overdose of kindness. All that they've done for us."

Carl didn't say anything to that and silence fell upon them again. Carol was thinking back to the days on the farm, how idyllic that setting had been to them all. Never to her. She'd lost her daughter there. It was nothing but a bad memory for her.

When Carl spoke, it took her by surprise, she'd been so lost in thought.

"He really was sad when you went missing," Carl said. He was sat with his head down, not looking at Judith, just staring at some spot on the floor of the car and Carol risked a quick glance round to Daryl, as he might just wake because he knew they were talking about him.

"I was pretty sure that I was done for. I didn't even know if anyone had survived at all. When no one came for me, I thought that was it. I thought we were all done. And if we were, I had no desire to ever leave that cell."

"He thought... he thought you were a walker. Trapped in that cell. When we were clearing the place out, and everything was checked except that last cell. So he knew you had to be in it."

Carol smiled sadly. She hated that she'd caused her friends more grief than they were already going through. Daryl especially didn't need more grief in his life. She was pretty sure he'd had enough to last him. The group was all he had now. She pushed the thought away. "I guess Daryl's kinda sweet too, huh?" Carol said, smirking at Carl.

A smile twitched at his lips and he shook his head. "He'd hate it if he knew you said that."

"You gonna tell him?"

Carl shook his head. "He won't hear it from me."

"Is she okay?" Carol asked, nodding down to the baby.

"I think so. But she'll need feeding in an hour or so."

"We can always stop. let everyone stretch their legs. I'd like Tyresse to check over the maps to see where exactly we're heading. And we could all use a bite to eat, a quick drink."

Carl nodded. "Does Daryl have any medicine to take?"

Carol shook her head. "I'll just check his bandages when we stop for the night. Make sure they look okay. I don't want to change them unless we're out of the car. But, if we can't find a good enough place to stop, I'll do what I have too. If he has a lot of pain when he wakes, I've got some strong pills, but he's not keen to take them from what Hershel told me. Antibiotics are a different matter. he has to take those. especially if he tries to get up and about before he should. Which you know he will." She smiled at the very thought of Daryl kicking off about the whole situation.

"Could you pass me some water?" Carol asked, indicating to a bag by Carl's feet.

He quickly fished out a bottle and passed it to Carol. She took several sips before handing him back the bottle.

It slipped from Carol's grip, through her fingers at the same time the windscreen was pierced with a bullet. Carol let out a wail of surprise as she struggled to control the car, it stops with a jolt when it hit an old road sign, taking the sign down completely as the car rested halfway down a grass verge.

Carl felt the water from the bottle trickle onto his leg, as Judith started to cry.

-

Carl rocked Judith in his arms, calming her wailing down as much as he could.

When she started to calm down, he looked outside the car. The windscreen had splintered and cracked, but besides the bullet hole, remained in one piece. He glances across to Carol, to see how she was, and that was when he noticed the blood.

"Daryl!" he called without thinking and glanced into the back of the car to see the hunter still out cold. He looked like he'd barely been moved in the wreck that had the rest of them in chaos.

He couldn't do anything with Judith in his arms and as she'd stopped crying, Carl let his seat go back as far as it would and carefully lay Judith down on to Daryl's chest, so she was snuggled between Daryl and the back of the seat. He was wary that Daryl was injured but a car crash hadn't stirred him and he had to check on Carol.

Judith snuggled into Daryl, blissfully comfortable with the contact she had.

Carl turned his attention to Carol. He could see some blood and her head hung limply, but he couldn't tell from where he was just how bad it was. He moved forward in his seat and looked for Carol's wound.

Carl felt bile rise up when he saw the gaping hole in Carol's neck. Blood and spurted out wildly, killing her quickly, he realised. Her side of the car was splattered with her own blood up over the window, running down on the outside from the force at which it had come out. Her hands were covered in it and he wondered when she'd realised and how he hadn't noticed.

"Carol," Carl whispered quietly.

He glanced back, tried to see where the bus was because he knew the others must have seen what happened and would come to help. But he quickly realised it had stopped too and there was no movement coming from there. But as his head was twisted around behind him, movement caught his eye as the walkers started to gather, attracted by the noise. Carefully as he could, Carl climbed into the back of the car. He pulled at the blanket that was on Daryl, covered him as best he could from the sight of anyone outside. Judith was sleeping now and he partially covered her too.

Then Carl sunk down into the footwell just beside Daryl. Daryl's head was turned towards Carl slightly and he could feel the man's hot breath every time he exhaled. There was something reassuring about it.

Carl listened in terror as the walkers were drawn to the smell of Carol's blood and they started to reach into the car. Started to tear at her, consume her. He could hear it then as they pulled her apart and he had to fight with himself not to think about it.

* * *

Carl couldn't tell when the sound of the walkers went away he was just grateful when they were drawn off by something else and they were out of immediate danger.

When he realised there was silence, he slowly sat up, looking out the window and seeing nothing moving. He moved his head slightly, checked the next area was clear and continued until he was certain that all the walkers that had been out there were gone.

He let out a sigh of relief. Judith was still content but he knew she needed feeding. If not now, then very soon and all her formula was in the trunk.

"Daryl?" Carl whispered, shaking the man gently. Daryl showed no sign of waking so Carl resigned himself to being alone for now. No walkers were in sight so Carl slipped from the car and stepped outside, slightly nervous. He opened the trunk and grabbed the bag of Judith's things, putting it in the footwell where he'd been sat before he headed out to the bus.

He looked around the bus, saw traces of blood and some broken windows but no one was there. He wondered what had happened to them all. They clearly had managed to leave as there was nothing left that made him believe they'd all been attacked.

Sighing with frustration, Carl headed back to the car. He made up a bottle for Judith, fed it to her as she sat on his lap while he perched on the edge of the seat next to Daryl's legs.

He thought about trying a bit harder to wake Daryl up once Judith went back to sleep, but that wouldn't be for a while. Judith would need some human contact for a while before she would be willing to sleep again. She wasn't used to just being left alone and Carl was concerned she might caused a fuss if he didn't fuss over her for a while.

Carl couldn't help but wonder if anyone from the bus had made it, and if they had, why they'd left them. Surely it would have been worth checking before they abandoned them out here.

With Judith fed, he sat her down in the footwell and sat opposite her, playing with his infant sister to amuse her for a while.

oOo

Karen, Sasha and Tyresse gathered outside the front of the small house they'd gathered everyone into.

"I gotta go back," Tyresse said.

"That's crazy!" Karen told him.

"You'll never make it."

"We can't leave them there," Tyresse insisted.

"The walkers were all around that car," Sasha reminded him.

"I know. But when Peter got dragged down, he screamed up a storm." Tyresse reminded them in a hushed voice. "He's bound to have drawn most of them away."

"Ty, you can't go back. You won't make it out alive."

"I don't want to be cruel, but we know one of them didn't make. We all saw the blood. Whoever it was, you have to think about who's left. How will you manage to bring them back?"

"It doesn't matter. I've gotta try. I won't be able to look any of the people in the face again if I can't tell them I tried my hardest."

Sasha nodded sadly, knew nothing she said would make a difference.

_

Carl heard a slight gasping breath and he looked up to Daryl.

He expected the man to be awake but was disappointed to see him still resting. Still unmoving.

Carl turned his attention back to Judith again but was disturbed again moment s later by another rasping breath. Still certain it wasn't Daryl, Carl looked slowly to the window, waiting to see the walker that had emerged from the trees and been drawn by the blood.

He could see none and was about to dismiss the whole thing when he heard another breath and felt the chair in front of him shudder slightly.

That was when he realised. Realised that the noise was coming from in front of him.

Carol.

Carol had turned.

Judith wriggled in his arms, made a small sound and he heard Carol snarl at the noise. He pushed himself against the seat as much as he could, knew if she reached in the back for him and Judith he'd had to run and he'd have to leave Daryl behind.

Carol thrashed around a bit in the front, like she knew there was something living close by but she couldn't find it. And he watched as she pulled herself out of the window in her bid to get free.

He huddled his sister closer to him as he watched Carol stand up and start to walk away, her head hanging in a ghastly way due to the amount of flesh that had been eaten from her neck.

He was glad she kept her back to him. Glad he never had to be confronted with what she'd look like now.

* * *

Daryl wasn't sure what it was that made him wake.

He felt like he hadn't had enough sleep. Felt like his whole body needed more rest. His head was throbbing, making his eyes hurt as he tried to open them even just a little.

"Daryl?"

The voice sounded hopeful and scared at the same time and he pushed past the pain in his head to keep opening his eyes. Carl was beside him.

Carl was _right_ beside him. Closer than the kid usually was to him. Closer than Daryl liked anyone being in all honesty.

He felt a weight pressing down on his chest and glanced down to see Judith sleeping on him. He couldn't quite understand what was happening and Carl quickly reached across to grab the baby off of Daryl's chest. In his haste, he caught the edge of one of Daryl's various wounds hidden underneath the fabric of his shirt.

Daryl let out a quiet hiss of pain at the shock of it and started to remember just what had happened to him to feel this way.

"Leave 'er," Daryl mumbled. He'd rather put up with Judith's constant weight than Carl meaning well and causing him more pain. Daryl's eyes slipped closed, his head demanding some reprieve from the brightness outside. "Can ya get Hershel?" Daryl asked.

"He's not here," Carl replied.

Daryl eyes shot open again at that. Where was he then? Looking around he quickly realised he was in a car. "Where is everyone?" Daryl asked.

Carl shrugged. He wasn't sure what to tell Daryl. The truth? He wasn't sure that was a good thing for him to hear right now. The news that he was alone with Carl and Judith, stranded in a car wasn't going to fill the man with hope. "I'll be right back," Carl said, have taken a moment to check his surroundings and check the coast was clear. He was to the trunk and bought the bag that Carol had packed with the supplies Daryl might need.

When Carl returned he started rifling through the bag but had no real idea what he should give to the downed hunter. Seeing what Carl was up too, Daryl struggled to sit up, twisting himself carefully in the seat and move Judith so she could snuggle in his lap. In a more normal sitting position, Carl joined Daryl sitting on the back seat. "Let me see," Daryl asked as Carl handed over some bottles of pills.

Daryl found the strongest painkillers they had and downed a couple along with some antibiotics. He needed to be fit to help the kid out.

"I got a weapon?" Daryl asked.

"The crossbows in the back," Carl said.

Daryl shook his head. "Need somethin' a little easier. Reloading that's too hard right now."

Carl moved forward to the front of the car and searched around until he returned with a gun. "Here."

Daryl nodded to Carl in thanks, wiped his hand across his face. He felt awful. He could just do with going back to sleep. "What's the plan then?"

He knew Carl didn't have one. Knew the kid was waiting for him to lead the way, but in his current state, Daryl could barely think straight.

"I-I don't have a plan," Carl muttered.

"You're a smart kid. You come from good smart people. You just do what you think best. Believe me, if your idea sucks I'll soon be tellin' ya."

Carl nodded seriously. "Okay, it's going to be getting dark soon, so we need to find a place to stay. The car's not ideal. And it's too far to go back to the prison."

"Right," Daryl said, nodding slightly.

"Should I go off alone?" Carl asked, wondering if Daryl would make it and how Judith would be.

Daryl shook his head. "Good idea normally, but we have no idea how far away anything is. We stay together this time." Daryl did his best to be encouraging.

"What if we can't find shelter?" Carl asked, worried.

"We can cross that bridge when we come to it."

Although they'd been sent from the prison to stay safe, Carl figured it was best to try and start making their way back towards it. They had little protection out there. Being back at the prison had to be safer, then being stuck out here. "I'm going to see what supplies are in the back," Carl said.

"I'll help," Daryl said. He lay Judith down on the seat and followed Carl to the trunk. Carl took them out away from the driver's side of the vehicle. He didn't want Daryl asking questions about whose blood was covering the window.

Between them, Daryl and Carl picked the most useful supplies, leaving non-essential items behind. They took all of Judith's things, Carl grabbed the flares just in case they might need them as Daryl emptied clothes from his bag and packed some of the food in it instead.

Carl nodded down to the tree line just beside the verge where the car currently sat and Daryl started over towards it as Carl grabbed Judith. "Want me to take her?" Daryl asked when Carl came out with the baby in his arms. He wanted to carry her himself, be responsible for her, but then he remembered what Carol had said. About them protecting Daryl and Judith, and Carl knew he could do a better job of it if he wasn't carrying his sister. Daryl was still hurt. He might be on his feet but there was no way the man wasn't in a bad way still.

A distant explosion rocked the sky and Daryl and Carl both looked back to where it came from.

Back the way of the prison.

Maybe the battle was happening there right now. Maybe that was The Governor, defeating everyone they left behind.

Daryl and Carl's eyes met briefly. There was concern in both their eyes but there was nothing they could do.

They headed into the woods.

oOo

He raced through the prison.

Raced towards that breach in the wall he knew about. Knew that if he could get there, if he could make it out, he might stand a chance.

Might be able to find Carl and Judith.

He wondered if anyone else made it past that first blast.

oOo

Tyresse got back to the roadside just as darkness fell.

The car was empty and he let out a sigh. He checked the trunk and saw that whoever made it had taken supplies with them. He couldn't push on after them. Not when he'd left Sash and Karen looking after everyone else.

He'd have to head back empty-handed.

* * *

They didn't choose to stop, more like they were forced too.

Daryl grumbled a quick "Here," to Carl as he shoved Judith in her brothers arms. As soon as the baby was out of his arms, Daryl slumped down to his knees, one hand on the ground, the other against a tree for some sort of support.

"Daryl?" Carl asked concerned as he dropped the bags he was carrying and knelt beside the older man.

but if Daryl heard him, he didn't answer and within seconds, Daryl was flat out on the ground, unconscious.

"We can camp here, right?" He said to his sister.

Carl moved his sister so he was holding her with one arm, and used the other to grab Daryl's hand. He pulled at him until he wasn't laying face down on the ground any more and once again placed his sister onto the injured man's chest while he set about making a campfire.

Lucky Carl had seen the basics of a good campfire when they'd spent the winter out together before they found the prison.

In no time at all, he had one started and was rocking Judith to sleep in his arms, after feeding her.

Carl used his coat to make the best bed he could for Judith and put her in it. She snuggled down quickly content and Carl grabbed the bag with the medical supplies Hershel had packed.

He took a deep breath, not wanting to have to do this but he could see even in the dim light that blood had started to soak through Daryl's shirt.

He recalled with clarity how The Governor had inflicted this particular wound. He'd started with a knife, and then used one of Daryl's bolts pushing it deeper, wriggling it from side to side to make it wider. It was the first thing that had made Daryl cry out in pain. He peeled the soiled bandage off and threw it to one side.

He sorted through the bag and found a new bandage to place over the wound and carefully started to clean the weeping wound. He must have pressed too hard or done something wrong because Daryl suddenly gasped awake, grabbing hold of Carl's arm tightly.

"Daryl, it's me." Carl supplied quickly and felt Daryl's grip slowly loosen.

"Where's Rick?" Daryl asked.

"He's not here."

"Hershel?"

"Just us. Remember?"

But it was clear Daryl didn't remember. He started to grasp for the bag beside Carl and it took Carl a moment to register what Daryl wanted, but he quickly realised by looking at Daryl's face that it was pinched in pain.

Carl grabbed the painkillers from the bag and quickly tipped some out for Daryl who swallowed them down dry.

They hadn't got very far since leaving the car and Carl started to wonder if it were a mistake. Daryl hadn't been able to go very far before his body had given out. Carl quickly put the bandage over Daryl's wound and tapped it in place.

Daryl at least seemed to be relaxing slightly when Carl heard the shuffling sound behind them.

"Damn," Carl muttered, quickly shifting over to the fire and quickly kicking up the dirt and soil next to it to put it out. The flames were smothered and Carl knelt beside Daryl. "Listen, I'm gonna draw the walkers away. Judith's right here, you have to protect her, but I'll make sure these follow me, okay?"

Carl didn't wait for Daryl to respond, he just pushed a gun into Daryl's hand and then pulled Judith closer to the hunter before he took off towards the walkers.

He had to make sure they didn't even realise there was a reason not to chase him.

He made enough noise to ensure the walkers followed him, and then lead them off into the woods.

* * *

Daryl felt like shit.

Not just physically, but the fact that Carl was out there drawing walkers away while he was laid up there like a pussy, taking care of the baby.

And the truth was, he couldn't do anything to help Carl.

He heard rustling and Carl quickly emerged from the trees. He rushed over to them, looking worried. "I managed to lose them but probably not for long. We need to go."

"You need to go."

"We have to go, Daryl."

"Take your sister and go. Back towards the prison. If anyone's looking for us, you gotta head that way."

"We're not going without you."

"Kid, I'm gonna slow you down. ..."

"I'm slow..."

"I'll get you killed. I can't save Judith, but you can. And you have too."

"You're not just giving up..."

"I'll head back to the car. I can't make it on foot. But if I have to lay low for a bit, wait for a chance before I get out of here, then I can do that. But I can't keep up the pace. Guv'nor messed me up inside and it's hurtin' real bad. 'kay? I'll head back to the prison, and I'll meet you there, right?"

Carl nodded reluctantly. He took Judith and her bag, left Daryl with the medical supplies and Daryl watched the kid go. He disappeared into the darkness.

He left the bag of supplies on the ground as he hauled himself up, grabbing only the painkillers and swallowing a few to try and numb the pain.

He had no need for the rest of the bag.

All he needed to do was make sure Carl made it

And the only way he could do that was to draw the walkers after him.

He still had the gun Carl gave him and he fired twice, leaving a gap hoping Carl wouldn't panic and think that Daryl had taken the easy option of opting out.

He then headed back in the opposite direction to Carl.

He heard a walker growl somewhere in the darkness. "C'mon you piece of shit!" he shouted out.

oOo

Tyresse was about to head back to the others when he heard the gunshots coming from the woods.

The others could be in trouble.

Sasha and Karen would have to hold the fort. He needed to see what was happening.

oOo

Carl found a spot that was fairly secluded to rest.

The walkers had been drawn away, he quickly realised that Daryl had done that and worried that in the state he was in, Daryl wouldn't make it.

And then he remembered the flares he'd been given by his Dad.

If they were in trouble, he should set them off. He cursed himself for not remembering about it until now and grabbed them from the bag. He just had to hope that there was someone left at the prison to see the flares.

-

Daryl knew it couldn't be much further until he reached the car.

Every breath draws a sharp pain from his lungs and he'd walked into more than his fair of trees as he struggled to navigate his way in the dark.

He could hear the walkers behind him. Had to hope that he was doing a good enough job of drawing them away from Carl and Judith.

He scraped his hand yet again against the bark of a tree and he let out a mumbled curse as he guided himself around it warily.

If he didn't reach the road soon, he knew he'd not make it. His vision was swimming and even though it was dark, the moonlight was helping him make his way, but every now and then it all went dark and his hearing seemed to fail him.

He thought he'd have a warning. Maybe his knees would give out first.

Instead of that he pitched forward and fell face-first into the ground, his body unable to go on.

* * *

Carl was torn.

He wanted to keep Judith safe and he knew getting her to the prison, finding some of the others would be the best idea.

But the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if he should turn back. Leaving Daryl when he was hurt so badly didn't sit well with him.

And there was also the explosion. What if there was no prison left?

He'd set off the flares and he figured if anyone was left, they'd head towards them. He could head back to the car. He didn't imagine Daryl would drive back tonight if he made it. They could meet up and wait for the others to join them.

A fear in his gut made him get up and head back towards where he'd left Daryl.

* * *

Tyresse could hear the walkers and was about to turn round and find cover when he saw Daryl stagger from round behind a tree.

"Daryl?" he called but the other man seemed to pay no attention. He watched in horror as seconds later the injured hunter fell to the ground and didn't move. "Shit!" he cursed to himself as he surged forward all too aware of the walkers that were close by.

A couple were close by as he reached Daryl and he quickly dispatched of them before he heaved Daryl up by the arm. Daryl moaned at being moved around and Tyresse tried to rouse the man, knowing it'd be easier if Daryl was able to move under his own power.

But once he had a better hold of Daryl, he could feel the heat radiating off the man. If that wasn't bad enough, Daryl was either soaked with sweat, or he was bleeding badly.

Realising that even if he got Daryl conscious he'd be little help, Tyresse hefted the injured man on to his shoulder in a fireman's carry and took off as fast as he could back towards the road.

He had no idea how many walkers were behind him but he couldn't fight them off out here.

He just had to make it there first.

* * *

Tyresse closed the doors on the bus and stayed low.

There was enough of a gap between himself and the walkers so that they had lost where he'd gone too and as long as he stayed quiet and out of sight he figured they'd be fine.

He'd carefully put Daryl down across one of the seats while he waited out of sight near the door, just in case he had to try and fight the walkers off. Luck was on their side though because the walkers stumbled onwards without looking towards the bus.

He sighed in relief as they kept going and they were spared. There was a niggling worry at the back of his mind that they were heading towards Sasha, Karen and the others. He just hoped they were going to stay quiet and hidden away.

He couldn't worry about them right now. Daryl was enough of a problem and he knelt down beside the unconscious man. He switched on the flashlight and held it over Daryl's form. He checked Daryl was still out and he saw the man's features were pinched in pain, even in sleep.

He wished he had some of the medical supplies they'd taken with them, but he left them with the others.

He could recall Hershel getting a bag of supplies up for Carol to take for Daryl and he wondered if the woman had them with her. He was concerned though. Carol, Carl and Judith were all missing and he couldn't think of a good scenario where they'd leave Daryl alone when he was injured so gravely.

Running the light down Daryl's body he saw a large dark bloodstain on his shirt. He pulled it up revealing a bandage also soaked through.

Tyresse peeled the bandage away and saw the wound across Daryl's stomach was badly swollen, the flesh around the stitches was red and puffy and the wound was weeping. The stitches had been pulled allowing the blood to flow again where the wound had been aggravated but it had slowed again now.

He had no choice but to recover the wound with the already soaked bandage having nothing clean to press against the vulnerable wound.

He placed his hand against Daryl's head and the man was still raging hot. The look of the wound made Tyresse believe that an infection might be starting and he'd have to venture out in daylight to see if he could find Carol, Carl and Judith or at least the supplies they'd had with them.

There was nothing much he could do for Daryl, so he pulled the shirt back down and left him to rest. He searched around the bus. Found a bottle of water under a seat that one of them had dropped in their haste to leave, a blanket left behind.

He covered Daryl in the blanket before he sat him up as best he could and poured a little liquid into Daryl's mouth. He turned his head away, the water dribbling back out before the hunter's eyes opened a crack.

"Carl?" Daryl muttered.

"It's Ty. You're safe, okay? Drink." He held the bottle to Daryl's lips and Daryl took some of the liquid, drinking a decent amount.

When Daryl's eyes slipped closed again, Tyresse lowered the bottle. He wasn't sure Daryl had even swallowed and he gently shook the man until his eyes opened again.

"Stay with just a sec, okay? Where's Carol and the others?"

Daryl's brow creased and he closed his eyes again. Tyresse thought he was in too much pain to answer and he was ready to let the hunter rest. But then he spoke. Just one word, but it left Tyresse wishing he'd never asked.

"Dead."

* * *

Carl was exhausted by the time he found the bag of supplies Daryl had left behind.

It was clear enough that Daryl had made it away from where he and Carl split up but now he'd found the supplies left behind, fear doubled inside of Carl. The fact Daryl had moved was a good sign, but that he'd left all the supplies behind wasn't good.

Judith started to squirm in his arms and fuss a little. He dropped the bag on his shoulder and gripped his sister tighter in his arms, rocking her.

He sat on the ground, back against a tree as he gently rocked Judith, keeping her quiet.

Daryl would have to wait.

oOo

Rick stood at the edge of the woods, the way Carl and the others would have gone but stared back at the prison.

He'd seen no sign of anyone else. They'd split up but they couldn't all be gone. He couldn't be the only one left.

Having seen the flares, Rick was equally concerned. That meant the others needed help and he had no idea what could be the matter. There was only him to help, coming in on foot with the weapons he carried on him. If they were in real trouble, what could he really do?

He pushed on. He had too.

He had to find Carl and Judith.

oOo

The day was dawning as Tyresse stirred.

He hadn't dared to actually sleep, they were just too vulnerable. He looked outside and was able to see some walkers were slowly wandering around by the bus and car.

He wondered if they could smell them.

He made his way back to Daryl, careful he kept low and quiet.

The hunter had rested fitfully during the night. Once he got up beside the man he saw how much worse he looked in the dim light of day.

His skin was slick with sweat, and his skin held a sickly pale colour to it and where the blanket was laid across him, the blood had soaked through, into the blanket. He quickly stripped back the material, exposing the wound and it looked impossibly worse than the night before. He gently touched Daryl's skin where the flesh wasn't marred and felt the slick warmth of it.

Daryl jolted slightly at the hand touching him and Tyresse looked up to bleary eyes looking back at him.

"Hey man, just relax. I'm gonna go find those supplies. Get you out of here in no time..." Tyresse started.

Daryl shook his head, grabbed for the blanket and covered himself back over with it. "Leave me," he said, voice as weak as he looked. His arm dropped back on top of the blanket keeping it in place.

"No way..." Tyresse started.

"Find Carl and the baby. Help them. I'm finished."

"I thought they were dead?"

Daryl shook his head slightly, his eyes drifting closed again. His energy used up with the brief exchange.

Tyresse was conflicted. He couldn't stand the idea of leaving Daryl here, but he had no way to help him and he'd left the others on their own. Not only that, but Carl and Judith were out there.

He wasn't even sure what he could do if he stayed with Daryl.

"If I find those supplies, I'm coming back," Tyresse promised. He pushed the bottle of water into one of Daryl's hands before he headed out, making sure he shut the door before he left.

* * *

Rick's boots pounded against the road as he ran as fast as he could manage.

He could barely push on any further, his legs felt heavy, tired but he had to push on and kept putting one foot in front of the other. His mind was flooded with thoughts of Carl and Judith and what could have happened to them. They'd set off the flares and he knew they were in trouble.

The problem was, they had no safe place to return to. The prison partly rubble now and not safe to return to. The Governor and his men were driving them out.

And Rick knew if he found any of them, he'd kill them all.

oOo

If he'd heard the car as it approached or heard the voices as the men outside spoke, he liked to think he'd have done something, been prepared at least.

But in reality, there was little he could have done against the men in the state he was in. Even the water bottle Tyresse had pushed into his hand before he left had slipped out when he'd lost consciousness. He was alone and he knew he was vulnerable.

When The Governor looked down at him, his body still seeping blood from his earlier attack, it was with a look of disgust.

"Still not dead, huh? I should have finished you when I had the chance."

Daryl's left arm hung over the seat and his fingers twitched like he was trying to hold the water bottle tighter.

"Boss?" A voice that hung back by the doors.

Daryl let his gaze flicker up to the man standing over him, wouldn't allow fear to show on his face. He saw the flash of metal as The Governor pulled out a knife.

"You're going to die. Those biters will come in and tear you to pieces and there will be nowhere to hide."

The Governor grabbed Daryl's wrist and cut across the palm of his hand. He went deep, sliced through tendons and as Daryl let out a cry of pain and pulled the injured limb closer to himself The Governor repeated the process with his other hand. "You know how fresh blood excites them," The Governor commented as he admired the bloodied knife in his hand. He looked across to Martinez who stood at the door, waiting for The Governor. "Block that door up. I want them to have to work there way into here. Let him hear them coming and know he can't do anything about it."

Martinez closed the door to the bus and started to block the door with the few things he could use. All that remained were a couple of bags, not much that would stop hungry biters from getting in.

The Governor paid little attention though. He pulled away from the blanket that was soaked through with blood, the fresh blood from Daryl's hands staining it and he looked at the mess of bloodied bandages below. "Now, just to make sure you don't think about getting out of here..." The Governor cut away the bandages and threw them to one side. He used the same knife to cut through the stitches binding three of Daryl's bigger wounds open again, parting the flesh as he did. The blood quickly welled up, leaked over his skin and ran down his side, soaking into the chair below him.

"That should do it. I don't want you to die, not before the biters get to you." Turning to Martinez he nodded and the other man leads the way to the emergency exit of the vehicle.

The Governor grabbed hold of Daryl's wrist, felt the man weakly try to pull away but he ignored it. He ran his hand across the fresh blood trickling down the man's arm and then let him go.

he quickly followed the path Martinez had taken and left the bus. Martinez closed the door, it locked as soon as it was closed, the biters wouldn't get in through that door, but Daryl could try and escape that way.

The Governor wiped his bloody hand across the door before moving across to the other door. He wiped the blade of the knife and smeared more of the blood on that one, knowing as soon as the biters came, the hunter would be effectively trapped inside.

Looking across to Martinez and the gun slung over his shoulder The Governor nodded. "Make some noise."

Martinez let out a burst of fire, filling the almost silence with noise for a few seconds. When he stopped, the sound of the gunfire still echoed around them.

"Let's see if we can find any of the others hiding out here."

And with that, the pair got in their vehicle and drove away from the bus.

oOo

Rick had to stop.

His lungs burnt with every breath he took and he had to stop, couldn't go on one more step. He bent over and leant his back against a tree as he let himself rest for a few moments. he saw a lone walker on the road up ahead but wasn't overly worried about a lone walker such as that.

At least, not until a strange thing happened.

Gunfire burst out in the night from somewhere up ahead. That walker should have stopped. Should have turned and followed the sound.

Instead, it kept coming forward, kept travelling on the road back to the prison. Rick wondered if in life, maybe the walker had been deaf and it heard no sounds to attract it, so it just walked aimlessly. He knew it wouldn't last long if it didn't know enough to follow a herd.

He pushed himself away from the tree and started back along the road. He jogged this time, trying to pace himself, but his exhausted muscles in his legs protested to even this. He still had to push on through. There was no choice about it.

He didn't plan on killing the lone walker. There seemed no need, but as he went to pass it, he noticed the odd angle of its head, the way the head was crooked so badly to one side, resting on its own shoulder and even in the darkness he could see that there was a mass of darkness around its neck and shoulder. And even though he didn't look at the walker, something about it made him look at the creatures face and he recognised it.

Carol.

It was Carol. Her short hair, her beautiful face but twisted into something hideous and monstrous. She snarled at him and tried to attack him and Rick felt the burn in his eyes.

She'd been with his children, she'd been there to protect them and this was her now? And no one had killed her. Carl had shot his own mother to stop her from changing. There was no way he'd let that fate fall into any of the other, not unless he couldn't do anything about it.

Rick side stepped Carol's attempts to reach him as he scanned the road, the woods, trying to see any other walkers, trying to see if maybe there was a little boy out there.

A sob escaped him before he even knew it was there and with a yell of frustration and fear, he ended Carol's life as a walker.

His body hit the ground at the same time hers did.

He cried over her dead body, but he didn't cry for her. The anger in him pushed away from the sadness momentarily as he desperately called out for his son in the night.

oOo

Tyresse's intentions of finding Carl and Judith, and hopefully the bag of supplies were good.

His sense of direction, however, wasn't. He pushed deep into the woods, going further North that Carl and Judith had headed.

The sound of gunfire back on the road should have made him turn. Should have sent him back to Daryl. But he knew that there was nothing he could do for him if he'd been found by The Governor's people.

So instead he tried to keep his promise of finding Carl and Judith.

oOo

Carl was jolted awake by the sound of gunfire.

Maybe it was Daryl. Maybe he'd found a weapon and was fighting off walkers.

He knew Daryl wasn't a quitter, so it was possible.

There was only a couple of hours before it would get light, he was sure of it and Judith was asleep. He didn't want to wake her now and have her cry, so he decided to stay put.

He held her tightly, kept her warm and got lost in the ways he thought she looked like their mother.

It was a low throaty rumble of a walker that first got his attention. He slowly looked up to where the sound was coming from and saw a walker passing some distance away. He held still, tried to make himself smaller, to blend into the tree in some way.

But the walker didn't notice him. And then he realised it was the sound it was following.

The noise of the gunfire had drawn it back towards the road.

If it was Daryl out there, he'd just made some extra trouble for himself.

Carl was watching the walker so intently that when another stepped out just two trees away from him it took everything he had to keep the gasp at bay. He couldn't let them know he was here.

He looked down at Judith who was sound asleep, each breath she took seemed incredibly loud suddenly and Carl watched the walkers come marching through in heavier clumps now. It seemed luck was on his side as the herd seemed to be much further over than where he'd picked to rest and he thought he'd get away from it all safely.

And he would have if there hadn't been one stray walker that stumbled out close to him, right beside the tree he rested against and the decaying thing snarled at him and he pulled away from a little instinctively. But it was enough.

It knew there was food to be had now and the walkers around them were just as aware. Carl grabbed Judith tighter and got up quickly, avoiding the reach of the walker. He'd have to head away from the road, he decided quickly, as that's the way the walkers were heading.

Carl pulled the bags onto his shoulder as he avoided the walkers reach, and he jostled Judith about in his arms, held her with just one hand and her resting on his shoulder, he needed a hand free to use his knife if he had too.

He managed to get a blow on the walker, not good enough to kill it but enough to knock it back while he speeds off. The bags slowed him down and he made the decision to dump the medical supplies bag. he could come back for it if he had too. And while it was hard, trying to work his way through the trees, avoiding the walkers, Carl knew he had to do it. He wouldn't let anything happen to Judith out here.

He couldn't. So he kept going. And if his bag hadn't got caught on a branch of a tree and snagged him, he probably would have made it.

He could hear the walker was close as he retreated his steps, walked backwards, closer to the walker to unhook the bag's strap and he felt it grab at him, reach for him and he pulled away hard, lost his balance. He stumbled to the ground, careful to keep Judith safe as he landed on his knees and then stumbled onto his side.

The movements jolted Judith and she started to cry. He kicked out, kicked the walker away from him, but he knew he couldn't fight them off now. More were making there way towards him and he couldn't fight them all. He kicked the walker away again and he pulled Judith closer to him, rocked her and shushed her because he didn't want her to die like this.

He held the knife in his hands and he figured, it's better for her this way. One quick movement and it'd all be over for her.

"I'm sorry, Mom," Carl said as he kissed the top of Judith's head.

He held the knife in his hand, ready to strike when he heard something in the distance. Did someone call his name?

"Dad..." he whispered.

He was still looking. He hadn't given up. Neither could Carl. He plunged the knife into the walker's head as it reached for him again and it's movements stopped. Carl scrambled to his feet, still aware that he had a long way to go before he'd be safe. He turned and moved away from the walker, turning and running straight into someone.

He looked up to see Michonne stood there, katana drawn.

"Looks like you could use some help," she said, a small smile on her lips. She stepped in front of Carl and attacked the walkers that were heading towards them.

Carl sagged in relief behind Michonne, soothed Judith as her cries quietened down.

It was going to be okay.


End file.
